JDA87
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Removing metal l-posts

Does anyone have any experience pulling up the old fashioned metal L-posts? I'm helping my father remove a field wire fence that must have been put up 70-80 years ago. The tool one uses to remove regular T-posts doesn't work as the posts are L-shaped and do not have the bumps on them, only holes (less that 1/4" wide). We tried wrapping a chain at the bottom of the post, threading nails through the chain and post and pulling them out with the pickup, but the nails snap before the post even budges a little. Any ideas would be much appreciated as there are over 50 posts and we do not relish the idea of digging each one out with a shovel. Cheers.

ButterflyLady29
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I have no idea what an L post looks like. Sorry. But there are a couple things I've done when pulling t posts by hand that might help. The surrounding soil needs to be moist for this to work so either wait for rain or dump some water around the post. Then wiggle the post in every direction. That moves the soil away from the post. One thing you could try with the posts you have it to use a hardened bolt instead of a nail. Wiggle the posts then pull.

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digitS'
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The bolt sounds like a good idea. So does the soil moisture.

When I pull metal t posts, I use a wrapped, looped chain and a fulcrum under a heavy bar. A concrete block is my choice.

You could also do this with a tractor or truck, although it may mean some stacking and risks. There is a lot of pull from the engine and wheels. I was hit in the leg by a cable, flung loose while pulling wild roses out of a pasture with a tractor. I was just a kid.

My father (98) carries as scar on his back from the same kind of accident. My injury healed fairly well; his left a bad scar.

Steve

suburbangreenie
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My husband just removed the posts from our chain link fence by using a car jack. He found some videos on YouTube that showed the process, and the posts came out fairly easily.

Now, though, we're left with two-foot deep holes from where the posts had been. Any tips on how to fill those in cheaply and effectively? We have a very wet spot of our yard that we're trying to landscape.

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Allyn
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JDA87 wrote:Does anyone have any experience pulling up the old fashioned metal L-posts? I'm helping my father remove a field wire fence that must have been put up 70-80 years ago. The tool one uses to remove regular T-posts doesn't work as the posts are L-shaped and do not have the bumps on them, only holes (less that 1/4" wide). We tried wrapping a chain at the bottom of the post, threading nails through the chain and post and pulling them out with the pickup, but the nails snap before the post even budges a little. Any ideas would be much appreciated as there are over 50 posts and we do not relish the idea of digging each one out with a shovel. Cheers.

The trick is to pull the post up. This is when we did -- I hope I can describe it well enough. We put a hunk of log on one side of the post, then put the end of a crowbar on the log with the crowbar horizontal, crossing the post like a "t". Tie a piece of rope to the bottom of the post and the other end to the crowbar where it crosses the post. There needs to be no slack in the rope. Then pull up on the free end of the crowbar, using the log as leverage. It pulls the post straight up out of the ground.

tomc
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Add water if soil is dry. Wiggle the posts till their is play around the post and soil. Use a jack and pull up. In clay this can still be quite an adventure.



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